Systems for distributing television content are generally well known to those of skill in the art. Over the past several decades, the number of systems designed for the distribution and consumption of television content has proliferated, while the number of available channels for television content has skyrocketed. For example, viewers are now able to consume television content over cable, as an over the air broadcast, via satellite, through fiber optics, as well as from other point (and multipoint) to multipoint distribution systems, each potentially offering several hundreds of channels of scheduled and on-demand television content. Consumers have had difficulty in effectively utilizing the pool of available television content due to a lack of useful tools for analyzing programming to determine the television content that is potentially the most enjoyable to the user. Furthermore, the viewing of television content has heretofore been an essentially solitary experience outside of viewing television content with another individual located at the same location.
Messaging services, as well as platforms for providing the same, are also well know to those of skill in the art. A messaging platform provides a foundation for shared communications between users and allows a user to identify one or more “buddies”, which are users of the messaging platform who are in a given user's social network. For example, two users using a messaging client, each in communication with a messaging server, may exchange instant message communications between their respective clients. Using messenger clients and servers, users may also engage in a shared web browsing experience, as well as sharing other applications. Unfortunately, there are no techniques for implementing the shared experience and interactivity with other users of a messaging platform when viewing television content.
In order to overcome these shortcomings and other problems associated with existing apparatuses and techniques for viewing television content and interacting with messaging platforms, systems and methods are needed to enhance a shared viewing experience of television content, as well as provide messenger and messenger-related services and content within the framework of viewing television content, in addition to other improvements to the relevant art(s).